What's the difference between felony and offence?

Felony


Definition:

  • (n.) An act on the part of the vassal which cost him his fee by forfeiture.
  • (n.) An offense which occasions a total forfeiture either lands or goods, or both, at the common law, and to which capital or other punishment may be added, according to the degree of guilt.
  • (n.) A heinous crime; especially, a crime punishable by death or imprisonment.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The company hired by Royal Dutch Shell plc in 2012 to drill on petroleum leases in the Chukchi — Sugarland, Texas-based Noble Drilling US LLC — in December agreed to pay $12.2m after pleading guilty to eight felony environmental and maritime crimes on board the Noble Discoverer.
  • (2) Andrea Kaminski, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, told the Guardian that such an exchange constitutes conspiracy to commit a felony – voter intimidation.
  • (3) Those charged with felony re-entry face a maximum of two years, or more with prior offenses.
  • (4) The suspect in her murder, Juan Francisco López Sánchez, had seven prior felony convictions and was deported five times to his native Mexico.
  • (5) According to police, Scott had previous convictions in juvenile court on misdemeanor drug charges and a pending felony case of drug possession with intent to distribute.
  • (6) Characteristics that predicted which patients would be arrested in the year after receiving mental health services were a greater number of lifetime felony arrests, younger age, being black or a member of another minority group, and more years since first receiving public mental health care.
  • (7) One Florida judge on the ground during the crackdown said in open court that he had personally witnessed at least 20 felonies committed by police officers under Timoney's command.
  • (8) All are facing the same felony charge of conspiracy to impede federal officers from discharging official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats – an offense that could result in fines and six years in prison.
  • (9) It would be more than just an assertion on his part.” The White House rejected the idea, spokesman Jay Carney telling reporters: “Mr Snowden has been accused of leaking classified information and he faces felony charges in the US.
  • (10) His bill calls for hundreds of miles of fencing to be built at the points where most illegal border crossings take place; it would make assisting illegal immigrants a felony and force employers to check the legal status of all employees.
  • (11) Of 85 persons (38% of those found incompetent to stand trial in Los Angeles County in 1983), 92% were currently charged with felonies and 62% with crimes of violence.
  • (12) Prof Lisa Avalos, of the University of Arkansas, said false allegations in the US were dealt with as a misdemeanour offence, not a felony – and most women were not jailed if found guilty.
  • (13) Grand jurors indicted Perry on abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony with potential punishments of five to 99 years in prison, and coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 10 years.
  • (14) Last September, Majors was charged with multiple felonies for striking Jabara’s mother with a vehicle, leaving her with a broken left shoulder and injuries to her face, according to the charging document.
  • (15) The Bundy brothers, Cox, Cavalier and Payne were all arrested and charged with felony offenses of conspiracy to impede officers through the use of force, intimidation or threats.
  • (16) I strongly believe that an undocumented individual, convicted of multiple felonies and with a detainer request from ICE, should not have been released,” Feinstein said.
  • (17) The charges against the superintendent, Mike McVey, include felony counts of obstructing justice, DeWine said.
  • (18) But the law that makes Clapper's behavior a felony is clear and concise, and can be read here .
  • (19) Elliott now faces charges of felony marijuana possession.
  • (20) The legislation refers to legally outdated concepts such as “felony” and “misdemeanour”.

Offence


Definition:

  • (n.) See Offense.
  • (n.) The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury.
  • (n.) The state of being offended or displeased; anger; displeasure.
  • (n.) A cause or occasion of stumbling or of sin.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Both condemn the treatment of Ibrahim, whose supposed offence appears to have shifted over time, from fabricating a defamatory story to entering a home without permission to misleading an interviewee for an article that was never published.
  • (2) Holmes, 25, is charged with more than 166 separate offences relating to the mass shooting of 20 July in Aurora, including first degree murder.
  • (3) But, in a sign of tension within the coalition government, the Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, told BBC2's Newsnight that "if [the offenders in question] had committed the same offence the day before the riots, they would not have received a sentence of that nature".
  • (4) In adults, with the exception of the 31--40 year age-group, there was no significant increase in these offences.
  • (5) On Sunday, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed a serious further offence review would take place to see if lessons can be learned from the case.
  • (6) The Met said officers would be told to focus less on stopping people for small amounts of cannabis, and instead focus on those suspected of violent offences and carrying weapons.
  • (7) "I am not trying to minimise the gravity of these offences, just simply make the observation that a sense of proportion needs to be maintained.
  • (8) In April, Ronnie was charged with a series of offences relating to an alleged £1m fraud at the retailer.
  • (9) She said it was time there was an offence of possessing firearms with intent to supply, arguing: "Those people who are supplying the firearms are as guilty as the people using them when it comes to the impact."
  • (10) However, Ofcom concluded that the word was capable of causing offence and the context did not justify its broadcast, finding Top Gear in breach of section 2.3 of the broadcasting code, which covers generally accepted standards.
  • (11) "If at any time we had been presented with a scheme that in any way amounted to immunity, exemption or amnesty we would have stopped that scheme - consistent with our opposition to the previous Government's Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill in 2005."
  • (12) Aamer, who has not been charged with any offence, was rendered to Guantánamo on February 14 2002 – the day his fourth child was born – and is understood to be held in solitary confinement.
  • (13) Third, if they are convicted of terrorism offences by an Australian court.
  • (14) An offence of going to such a place, because you have failed to satisfy someone, presumably a judge, on presumably the balance of probabilities, that you were there for what I’ll call a good purpose or at least not a bad purpose.
  • (15) Brain pathology, especially, shows some correlation with force used in offences and likelihood of recidivism, and for this reason alone it merits further study.
  • (16) If somebody who has participated in fighting in a foreign civil war returns to Australia, they can be arrested, they could be charged with an offence which carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 25 years.
  • (17) The judge noted the “seriousness of these offences and impact on road traffic, particularly given the number of fines previously issued against BT by TfL for similar offences.” Firms undertaking work anywhere in London need a permit before digging up the roads, allowing highway authorities to coordinate work to minimise disruption.
  • (18) The Police Foundation report said that the penalties for possession of cannabis - among the harshest in Europe - do more damage than the drug itself and called for a reclassification of drug offences.
  • (19) If officers are found to regularly fail to switch on their cameras when they should do it will be treated as a disciplinary offence, he added.
  • (20) Newspaper editors and TV bosses want to hear that their scouts have seen "must see" shows, when in fact having seen things everyone else has seen, when there are over 2,000 different shows daily, should be a sackable offence.